In a service-wide "stand down," the Army has ordered soldiers to put aside their usual duties Thursday and spend the day on suicide prevention training as the military struggles with a spike in the number of self-inflicted deaths this year.

Military's cyber leaders say job satisfaction has so far trumped salary concerns when it comes to building and retaining a workforce of elite cyber warriors. Building the capacity of that training pipeline is the next challenge.

>Members of a female engagement team from the 101st Airborne Division, who will be directly interacting with Afghan women during the coming deployment, have been equipped with the female prototypes of the newest generation of Army tactical vests.

At meetings this week, DoD gives European Command the go-ahead to start building the first increment of a standards-based IT environment that will collapse thousands of networks into a single, interoperable environment.

>After nearly 11 years, many by now have grown numb to the sting of losing soldiers like Pfc. Shane W. Cantu of Corunna, Mich. He died of shrapnel wounds in the remoteness of eastern Afghanistan, not far from the getaway route that Osama bin Laden took when U.S. forces invaded after Sept. 11, 2001, and began America's longest war.

Gino Magnifico, the ACC's chief information officer, said his component is helping to lead an Armywide effort to develop a new contract writing system. It's not just a technology refresh, however. It's about improving the business processes.
September 6, 2012

Georgia prosecutors will seek the death penalty against three Army soldiers accused of killing a former serviceman and his girlfriend to protect an anti-government militia group, officials said Thursday during tense court hearings in which one victim's stepfather was tackled and handcuffed as he tried to rush the defense table.

The Army will keep using the Army Physical Fitness Test to gauge readiness until a study into new methods is completed, the service announced. In 2011, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command introduced a new test to more than 10,000 soldiers to measure Warrior Task and Battle Drill readiness. However, until that study is fully concluded, TRADOC command said "longstanding and proven" systems of physical fitness will continue to be the standard.

The four-star general who headed U.S. Africa Command used military vehicles to shuttle his wife on shopping trips and to a spa and billed the government for a refueling stop overnight in Bermuda, where the couple stayed in a $750 suite, a Defense Department investigation has found.

The soldier who went AWOL and plotted to kill other troops outside a Texas Army post remained defiant Friday as he was sentenced to life in prison, not asking for mercy and vowing to never end what he considers his holy war.

Army Under Secretary Joseph Westphal said if the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration go into effect, the impact to the Defense Department will be "devastating." At the same time, the DoD still must plan for cuts as tight budget continue and combat operations shrink.